Australian parents pressured to drop home language for EnglishHerald SunAustralia:
Migrant parents are under pressure to dump their own language believing it will help their children learn English, an academic said during a recent talk in Sunshine. During the talk at the Sunshine Library, "Successfully Raising Children in More Than One Language," Professor John Hajek said migrant parents were taught to undervalue their own languages, and to ignore their own histories in "a mistaken belief" that it was the only way for their children to learn English successfully.

High-quality professional development for teachersCenter for American Progress Professional development in education has gotten a bad reputation, and for good reason. Everyone on all sides of the education reform and improvement debate agrees that what most teachers receive as professional opportunities to learn are thin, sporadic and of little use when it comes to improving teaching. According to Harvard University Professor Heather C. Hill, the "professional development 'system' for teachers is, by all accounts, broken."

Struggling with the past tense: Verbal acquisition of -ed forms following monopthongs in verbsBy Beth Crumpler We are continuing the series on ELL pronunciation struggles with the past tense -ed. In this third part of the series, we are addressing verbal fluency of past tense -ed following monophthongs, one vowel sound in one syllable. Using -ed after a monophthong is much easier than when it comes after a diphthong. Regardless of which type of vowels -ed follows, students need to still understand how to pronounce them.

Call for authors: New TESOL book seriesTESOLThe TESOL Book Publications Committee is now accepting proposals for a new series titled Perspectives on Teaching in Different Contexts. The series consists of 80-page books addressing the challenges specific to certain contexts for teaching English language learners. Deadline for proposals is 30 September 2013.

Call for grammar questionsTESOLHave a grammar or usage question that's got you stumped? Send it to TESOL's grammar guru at grammaticallyspeaking@tesol.org, and have it answered in the quarterly Grammatically Speaking column in TESOL Connections, along with teaching tips for your classroom. The most recent Grammatically Speaking column is available on the TESOL website.

Put your passion into practiceTeach with a purpose. SIT students learn to teach language for social change, advocacy, education, and empowerment. SIT now has a summer low-residency program that offers current teachers the same highly regarded TESOL graduate education as the SIT on campus program. Learn more at sit.edu/tesol.

Singing helps students tune into a foreign languageSpringer Science+Business Media via ScienceDaily Singing in a foreign language can significantly improve learning how to speak it, according to a new study published in Springer's journal Memory & Cognition. Adults who listened to short Hungarian phrases and then sang them back performed better than those who spoke the phrases, researchers at the University of Edinburgh's Reid School of Music found.

Does geography influence how a language sounds?National GeographicLanguages spoken at high altitudes are more likely to contain a certain kind of sound made using short bursts of air, according to a new study. The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, is the first to show that geography can influence how a language sounds.

Native-speaking English teachers in declineThe Prague PostCzech Republic: Kirsty Mooney, 40, was fresh out of university when she decided to leave her hometown of Rochdale, in north England, and move to the Czech Republic. Mooney quickly found work teaching English to Czech students.

House GOP pushes through curbs on No Child Left BehindThe Christian Science Monitor Editor's note: TESOL International Association provided comments on the Student Success Act (H.R. 5).
Six years after Congress was supposed to reauthorize the federal No Child Left Behind education law, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill — with no Democratic support — that would roll back much of the law's accountability requirements and lock in lower levels of education funding. Supporters of HR 5, the Student Success Act, say it restores flexibility to local school districts, gives broader choice to parents, and encourages innovation by scaling back the federal footprint. Opponents say it would reverse longstanding efforts to improve education, particularly for the most disadvantaged groups of children.

Teacher recruitment tool will factor in controversial ratingseSchool News In an incendiary move guaranteed to divide the education community, the National Council on Teacher Quality has partnered with a Web-based teacher hiring system that will factor in the Council's recently released teacher preparation program ratings. NCTQ's annual study rated the quality of teacher prep programs, stirring the education reform pot, with many institutions praising the report, while others say NCTQ doesn't have the experience to rate teacher preparation programs.

Federal cuts force Impact Aid districts to cut staff, close schoolsEducation Week It's been almost five months since Congress slashed education spending through across-the-board cuts known as "sequestration," which were intended to force a still completely elusive, long-term bipartisan budget deficit-reduction deal. The school districts that became the poster children for these cuts? The ones that get money from the $1.2 billion Impact Aid program, which helps districts that have a big federal presence (such as a military base or an American Indian reservation nearby) make up for lost tax revenue. About 1,200 districts receive those funds, and a small handful rely on them heavily.

World Class: Be the SolutionIn our TESOL/TFL programs, you’ll learn the world’s most important skills from our instructors: bringing people together through the power of a new language. MORE

Put Your Passion Into PracticeTeach with a purpose. SIT students learn to teach language for social change, advocacy, education, and empowerment through SIT’s online and on campus accredited master degree programs. MORE

Roundtable: Infrastructure, teacher training key to improving technology in classroomsThe Washington Post The future of digital learning in classrooms will require more than just getting tablets in the hands of students to be successful. Education leaders and policymakers must focus on investing in infrastructure and professional training for teachers and administrators to grow technology in education. That was one of the major themes education technology experts, lobbyists and policy makers repeated at a Monday roundtable discussion, organized by Internet Innovation Alliance, and which focused on how private and public sectors can work together to improve digital learning in the nation's classrooms.

Funding boost for English language learners prompts some backlashLas Vegas SunGov. Brian Sandoval called it historic. State Senate Majority Leader Mo Denis called it momentous. No state legislator voted against it. The Clark County School Board unanimously approved it. But for some, the state's $50 million in new spending for English language learners smacks of special treatment and seems like an unjust, unfair burden on taxpayers who must subsidize the education of a select group of outsiders. These views — expressed in newspaper comment sections and on call-in radio shows — dramatically differ from the bipartisan comity among elected officials, representing a backlash to the unanimous opinions of the political and education officials who pushed the bill at the Legislature.

LAS Links Assessments Go OnlineIdentify the needs of your English Language Learners with an automated, time-saving assessment tool in speaking, listening, and reading. LAS Links Online™ is designed to strengthen your English Language Development Program and provides research-based results to support your instructional decisions. Visit CTB.com/LASLinksOnlineDemos for an in-depth look at LAS Links Online.

Language wars: Should Spanish-speaking students be taught in English only?PBSThere's long been debate about bilingual education in the United States and what's the most effective way to make sure students are proficient in academics in the English language. Special correspondent John Tulenko reports on a Connecticut school district that's taking a different road, one that may yield results, but is sparking a battle over its approach.

English-language books spark chaos in schoolsThe Taipei TimesTaiwan:
Non-official English-language materials are being used in most of Taipei City's public elementary schools, a Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City councilor said. Councilor Hsu Chia-ching said 90 percent of the city's 141 public elementary schools used non-official English textbooks from domestic or foreign publishers. The councilor said Taipei City's English education policy was to blame for inconsistency in levels of learning and huge price differentials in elementary schools.

14 Zoom schools to target English language learnersLas Vegas SunSchool will be a lot different this fall for students of 14 Clark County elementary schools. These schools will receive a total of $39.4 million as part of a state pilot program to boost performance of English language-learning students over the next two years. The schools, representing just 6 percent of the district's 217 elementary schools, will offer prekindergarten, full-day kindergarten, summer school and reading development centers operated in partnership with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in an effort to reach literacy for those children.

Sioux City schools adds legislative focus on non-English-speaking studentsSioux City JournalStudents who don't speak English as their primary language could get a push for more academic attention from the state if the Sioux City school district gets its way. The school board voted to drop charter school regulations from its list of legislative priorities, and instead opted to focus on English language learners. The priorities will be sent to the Iowa Association of School Boards, which will lobby lawmakers when the legislative session resumes.

Students want more class assignments available on mobile deviceseCampus News"Who completed the reading?" It's a question some instructors likely ask every week. If students are being honest, only 10 percent of the class would raise their hands, according to a new survey. But a majority of students believe that response would be very different if the material was available on mobile devices. The survey, conducted by Wakefield Research and digital course materials company CourseSmart, asked 500 American college students about their dependence on devices, their opinions on eTextbooks and their views toward the rising price of a college education.

Do some have an overly idealistic view of internationalization?University World NewsMost international educators have a very positive feeling about the contribution their work will make to students' personal and professional development and to peace and mutual understanding in the world. They are driven by their enthusiasm and by the opportunities that European programs such as Erasmus+ and other scholarship schemes offer. For them, international education is not only a job but an ideal.

Get Your MA in TESOL OnlineEnroll in Spring Arbor University’s online master’s degree in TESOL. Our program has concentrations for teachers as well as those working in ministry and community settings. Contact us today to find out more and to learn about our scholarship options for Fall 2013. MORE

Language course: 'Learning English for better communication'The Express TribunePakistan:
Hassan and 19 other students from eight different universities are enrolled in an English language summer camp set up by the United States consulate general. The camp offers students a chance to learn English with a special focus on communication. The two-week camp is free. Students are selected after submitting a series of forms and interviews over the telephone. The camp targets students in the 18 to 21 age bracket. "Our aim is to give an average student a chance to learn the language," says Umar Anjum, the instructor. "Pakistan's education system teaches students English but it fails to help them learn and understand it," he says.

English main language for Hispanic AmericansABC NewsA new study by the Pew Hispanic Center reveals that more Latinos are learning and using English as their primary language, as the number of Latinos in the United States who consume their news in English continues to grow. In 2012, 82 percent of Hispanic adults consumed news in English, up from 78 percent in 2006. Meanwhile the number who consumed news in Spanish declined from 78 percent to 68 percent in those same years. Also on the decline are the number who receive their news in both languages — 50 percent in 2012, from 57 percent in 2010.

The What’s Different About Teaching Reading to Students Learning English Direct Strategies Institute will provide teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to teach reading effectively to English language learners.

Spanish speakers still learning English hungry for local newsKVAL-TVWhen a bomb threat forced her son's school to evacuate, Evelyn Hernandez had even less information than other parents. "Sometimes it's difficult to understand English because they speak too fast, and sometimes, I can't understand," Hernandez said. Hernandez is one of an estimated 27,000 people in Eugene-Springfield for whom English is a second language, according to Downtown Languages in Springfield. The organization helps nonEnglish speakers learn the language.

Older adult and parent education programs left out of adult education budget compromiseEdSource TodayAn effort to narrow adult education's core mission is being met with resistance from advocates for older adult and parent education programs, which would lose funding under a budget compromise crafted by supporters of adult education and Gov. Jerry Brown. "A lot of people think supporting older adult and parent ed programs is a lost cause," said Kristen Pursley, who teaches English as a Second Language courses at West Contra Costa Adult Education. "But we think they are too important to give up."

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Ability to learn new words based on efficient communication between brain areas that control movement and hearingKing's College London via Science DailyFor the first time scientists have identified how a pathway in the brain which is unique to humans allows us to learn new words. The average adult's vocabulary consists of about 30,000 words. This ability seems unique to humans as even the species closest to us — chimps — manage to learn no more than 100. It has long been believed that language learning depends on the integration of hearing and repeating words but the neural mechanisms behind learning new words remained unclear.

Singing helps students tune into a foreign languageSpringer Science+Business Media via ScienceDaily Singing in a foreign language can significantly improve learning how to speak it, according to a new study published in Springer's journal Memory & Cognition. Adults who listened to short Hungarian phrases and then sang them back performed better than those who spoke the phrases, researchers at the University of Edinburgh's Reid School of Music found. People who sang the phrases back also fared better than those who repeated the phrases by speaking them rhythmically.

Are you an English language program administrator (LPA) or do you want to become one? If you answered yes to this question, the Handbook for Language ProgramAdministrators, Second Edition is for you. Language program administrators (LPAs) have many responsibilities: they lead, make decisions, advocate, manage, plan, negotiate, innovate, and much more. The 2nd edition of the Handbook is completely revised and offers new materials and chapters to help LPAs prepare for the many different roles they must play.

4 ways educators can save on classroom expensesU.S. News & World Report Outfitting school classrooms is big business. Educators spent roughly $3.2 billion last year to stock their classrooms with everything from disinfectant to educational games, according to an annual report by the National School Supply and Equipment Association. Of that total, $1.6 billion came directly out of teachers' pockets, according to the report, which surveyed nearly 400 elementary, middle and high school teachers.

Saint Michael's MATESOL Program, now in its 50th year, is a nationally and internationally respected leader in the TESOL field.
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4 reasons why the Common Core are losing popularityeSchool News In what could be compared to, well, many education reform initiatives over the years — educational technology included — a once-widely, and quickly, accepted initiative is dividing the education community; begging the question, "Are the Common Core State Standards just another flash in education's pan?" 45 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the CCSS in what was once lauded as a giant step in the right direction in trying to improve student achievement and college- and career-readiness.

Registration is open for TESOL's Academy in Brazil, 27 – 28 September 2013. If you're interested in learning about or enhancing your knowledge of ESP, this is the academy for you! This program combines lively plenary sessions and knowledge-sharing opportunities with hands-on workshop training. For registration information and full program schedule, visit www.tesol.org/brazil.

28 October – 24 November 2013
Explore assessment, intervention, and identification techniques effective in separating difference from disability. Learn what tools and strategies are available and appropriate to use. Register today!

The TESOL English Language Bulletin is presented as a service to members of TESOL International Association and other English language teaching professionals. For information about TESOL member benefits, visit www.tesol.org or contact us at membership@tesol.org.

TESOL English Language Bulletin is a digest of the most important news selected for TESOL International Association from thousands of sources by the editors of MultiBriefs, an independent organization that also manages and sells advertising. TESOL International Association does not endorse any of the advertised products and services. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the author and not of TESOL.